“Don’t even try to understand Cuba,” advised our group leader, Liliana Rhoades, who was born in Cuba. “Changes are a response to what is happening. Right now.” Cuba is clearly always on the verge of something else that needs...
Travel Insurance for Solos: Silent Companion for Your Journey
It’s no secret that I believe travel insurance is essential. It protects your investment before you ever leave home. It also covers those unanticipated medical mishaps (or worse) during your trip. And for the solo traveler? It’s not even...
Staycations: How to Make Yours Fun & Memorable
Updated July 12, 2020. Staycations! Fun, right?!? Please don’t groan and roll your eyes. Suddenly, staycations have been more or less mandated. And if the public health experts are correct, we may be doing “local travel only” for the...
How to Be Airport-Savvy in 2021
Updated May 13, 2021: The content of this blog post still applies to learning how to be airport-savvy. What’s changed? COVID…and the restrictions that are going to remain in place for awhile. Just as airport security changed after 9/11–remember...
14 Fun Reasons to Walk the Camino de Santiago…Yes, You Can!
What’s that, you say? You need some reasons to walk the Camino de Santiago? True, 500 miles does seem like a long way on foot…and it does take at least a month. A long month, with 31 days. My...
Free Guided Tours: A Boon to Budget Travel
Free guided tours? FREE? You bet! It seems too good to be true, but not only do they exist, you have a choice of companies and programs that offer unusual ways to see cities around the world. For travelers...
Travel & Adventure Show: Who Should Go? YOU!
Holiday decorations are put away and the new year has started. That means it’s time to plan a trip! Fortunately, the annual Travel & Adventure Show can help you find the perfect destination. Hundreds of exhibitors are waiting to...
Saving for Travel: How to Get to Your Next Destination
Saving for travel: a great idea, but not easy to do. We want to afford more than a long weekend, but everyday needs get in the way. A trip to Bali sounds heavenly…but the water heater just broke. How...
Loretto Chapel: The Miraculous & Mysterious Staircase
Loretto Chapel will make you believe in miracles…or at least consider them. Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Loretto Chapel itself is an interesting story. Back in 1850, long before the area would become a state in 1909, things...
Hop On-Hop Off Bus: I Always Take One, You Should, Too!
Take a Hop on-Hop off bus? REALLY? I can hear your groans… We’ve all seen them during our travels, those double-decker buses, the upper deck packed with photo-snapping riders who insist on waving to passersby. They look so…touristy. WHY...